Characters of Christmas: Jesus
Notes
Transcript
Scripture Intro:
Scripture Intro:
Scripture Reading
For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people,
training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age,
waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ,
who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.
Pray...
Intro:
Intro:
Oftentimes,
we struggle to grasp what is unseen.
Gases like Oxygen, Nitrogen, Hydrogen
They exist, but we can’t see them...
so they are difficult to comprehend.
Interestingly,
at times we can actually see the invisible when we look at the visible.
what is seen is meant to draw attention to what is not seen.
What is visible helps you see what is invisible.
FedEx logo.
Look at the E and the X,
You can see them.
but what is visible in those letters,
creates an arrow pointing forward.
Christmas is about God breaking into human history...
The invisible God became visible.
Often, we struggle to understand certain concepts, b/c they are unseen.
But often the conceptual becomes visible.
Love - it’s real and true.
But it’s invisible.
Until someone does something that is loving...
and love is not visible.
Christmas is when the unseen “appears”.
The Embodiment of Grace
The Embodiment of Grace
Grace is a theological concept.
Very real, but still unseen.
What is grace?
Favor given to people who don’t deserve it.
Mercy is NOT GIVING someone what they deserve.
Deserve punishment - don’t give it to them.
Grace is giving someone what they DON’T deserve.
God’s favor and blessing...
we don’t deserve it.
That’s grace.
But interestingly...
For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people,
Grace showed up.
It appeared in the person of Jesus.
When Jesus was born,
“the grace of God appeared”.
The next chapter of Titus...
But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared,
Goodness and loving kindness of God appeared...
Grace appeared.
Goodness appeared.
Loving kindness appeared.
These concepts showed up and could be seen.
When Jesus took on flesh,
the goodness of God appeared.
The invisible concept of goodness...
became something we could see.
Became SOMEONE we could see.
His loving kindness could now be seen.
His grace could be seen as well.
For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people,
It’s grace b/c he appeared,
“bringing salvation”
people who could not save themselves.
people who were described by the next verse.
training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age,
So PRIOR to the work of God in our lives (salvation)...
we were ungodly, consumed by destructive passions,
NOT self-controlled, upright, and godly.
Later in Titus,
For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another.
And these are the people Jesus came to save.
That’s why Christmas is about grace.
Grace appeared for wretched people.
A salvation we did not earn...
did not deserve.
Sheer undeserved favor.
Sheer grace.
Speaking of Jesus....
who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.
He came to save lawbreakers and sinners.
That’s the Good News of Christmas.
To make the point even sharper...
he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit,
Why did he save us?
Not b/c of our works of righteousness.
by his own mercy
Even the actions described as saving are acts of God:
“washing of regeneration”
new heart, clean heart
born again
“renewal of the Holy Spirit”
Both things done for us.
Not our actions.
Not our works.
His mercy and grace.
In Jesus,
we see the embodiment of grace.
He appeared in flesh...
to save wretched sinners who had no hope by themselves.
The Embodiment of Hope
The Embodiment of Hope
He appeared and he saved us...
But we don’t yet experience that in its fullness.
For many (as much as we try to make it celebratory and happy)...
Christmas is a time of deep sadness.
A remembering of what has been lost.
Yet, that is not the end of the story.
So we wait.
But we wait differently than the world.
waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ,
There’s the word “appear” again.
We just said earlier that GRACE APPEARED in Jesus.
Now, we live waiting for our hope to appear...
“the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ.”
When Jesus was born,
grace appeared.
When he returns,
our hope will appear.
Our faith will be made sight.
So into the darkness of this world...
hope broke in.
“we have seen his glory”
“full of grace and truth”
Christmas is a time of great joy...
b/c of the hope that we have.
the glory of God will appear again when Jesus returns.
It ought to change how we live.
It should change how we feel about this world.
We have seen God’s grace.
We have a real and certain hope.
We have seen the loving kindness of God
We have experienced his mercy and grace.
When Jesus was born,
the goodness and grace of God appeared.
And it ushered in for us a great hope.
We ought to be the most JOYFUL people in the world.
Close in Prayer
Close in Prayer
Closing Song:
Closing Song:
“Joy to the World”
We are going to end triumphant tonight...
Hopeful
Joyful
Expectantly waiting for Jesus’ return.
As the light of the candles grows throughout the room,
let’s remember how the light of Christ
would spread throughout this world.
That our neighbors might experience the grace and goodness of God.
Benediction:
Benediction:
